Trusted associates of Lőrinc Mészáros take over Veszprém handball club

Persons associated with Felcsút mayor and businessman Lőrincs Mészáros have taken over important positions in the Veszprém Handball Team (VHT) Zrt., the company operating the Veszprém Handball Club, reports Magyar Nemzet.

The shift of power took place at a special general assembly in mid-July, when Duna Aszfalt Zrt. – owned by Mészáros’s business associate and friend László Szíjj – was announced as the new majority owner of VHT with a 52 percent share.

Upon the announcement of the new owner, the entire supervisory board of VHT resigned, in addition to board members Péter Ovádi and Péter Mihalovics. Board members Attila Várhegyi and film producer Gábor Kálomista were also released from their positions.

Magyar Nemzet notes that the firing of Kálomista is likely due to the fact that he became a member of the board when the club was still presided over by Károly Fonyó, a close business associate of oligarch and Fidesz nemesis Lajos Simicska. Because of this, Kálomista had been deemed “a man of Simicska” since the latter’s public quarrel with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

However, the reasons for the resignation of Ovádi and Mihalovics and the firing of Várhegyi are less clear, as the former two are local Fidesz politicians and the latter is an important behind-the-scenes actor in state media. Fidesz mayor of Veszprém, Gyula Porga, was also made to resign as a member of the supervisory board.

Executive director of Duna Aszfalt László Tóth will reportedly be the new CEO of VHT. The supervisory board will include Zoltán Csík, who often steps into administrative roles before Mészáros acquires a new company. Kadosa Adorján Antal, a public procurement expert, and József Vörös, legal counselor and friend of Mészáros, will also serve on the board. All are trusted men in Mészáros’s business empire.

Simicska, who has been seen multiple times at Veszprém handball matches alongside Gábor Kálomista and Károly Fonyó, was banned from his private box at the Veszprém handball arena in June without justification.